Sept. 3, 2009
Complete Game Notes
Game #1 - Season Opener
BUCKNELL (0-0) at DUQUESNE (0-0)
Saturday, Sept. 5 at 6:00 p.m.
Arthur J. Rooney Athletic Field (2,000/Sportexe synthetic turf) • Pittsburgh, Pa.
RADIO: WMNY-AM 1360 with Alex Panormios (play-by-play) & Tad Maurey (color)
STREAMING AUDIO: www.redzonemedia.com or www.GoDuquesne.com
STREAMING VIDEO: www.GoDuquesne.com
DUKES OPEN WITH BUCKNELL: Duquesne kicks off its 83rd season of football under the lights against Bucknell on Saturday, Sept. 5 at 6:00 p.m. (WMNY-AM 1360). Overall, the Dukes are 47-21-3 in season openers (records available since 1902, DU fielded its first team in 1891), including a 1-3 mark under fourth-year head coach Jerry Schmitt. This marks the eighth time in the past 13 years Duquesne has faced Bucknell in the season-opener (1997, 1998, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007 & 2008 are the others). The Dukes are 11-6 in season-openers since 1992 with all six losses coming to Bucknell. Last year, DU finished 3-7 in its inaugural season in the Northeast Conference. This is Duquesne's second season as a scholarship-granting football program. With last year's move to the NEC, Duquesne offered 18 scholarships. That number is expected to increase by two each year over the next three years. Duquesne granted only need-based financial aid for football playing student-athletes as a member of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Football League from 1994 through 2007. The NEC competed as a non-scholarship member of the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision until 2006 when the conference adopted an athletics-based aid model. Duquesne returns 15 position starters from last year's team.
DUKES AND BISON: Bucknell leads the overall series 9-3 ... this is the 11th meeting between the two school in the past 13 years ... the two times BU and DU did not meet over that span were 2001 & 2005 ... Duquesne ended a four-game series losing streak with a 35-14 win over Bucknell at Pittsburgh on Sept. 7, 2002 ... since then, the Bison have won five in a row ... in Bucknell's last trip to Pittsburgh on Sept. 1, 2007, Duquesne scored on each of its first three drives - and four of the first five - but would not score again as visiting Bucknell held on for a 28-19 win at Rooney Field in the season opener for both schools. ... last year, Bucknell scored on five consecutive possessions to take a 42-7 halftime lead and survived a spirited second half Duquesne rally to post a 48-42 season-opening win over the fast-closing Dukes at BU's Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium ... DU quarterback Connor Dixon, who was 2-of-6 for nine yards in the first quarter, rallied to complete 30-of-47 passes for 429 yards and a school record six touchdowns for Duquesne, which rallied to score 35 points in the second half ... Dixon's 429 yards were nine shy of the school record of 438 set by Tony Zimmerman in 2000 ... the game was the first at Duquesne for Dixon who had transferred in from Michigan State.
QUICK HITS
• Last year Duquesne and Bucknell combined for 1,022 total yards (485 for Duquesne and 537 for Bucknell) and 90 points in BU's 48-42 win ... in three meetings under current head coach Jerry Schmitt, Duquesne is averaging 29.7 points and 466 yards per game vs. Bucknell ... the Bison have averaged 35.7 points and 427 ypg. over that same span - all Bucknell wins.
• Duquesne has posted eight wins over Patriot League schools since 1999. No current or former MAAC, Pioneer League or Northeast Conference school has won more than five games versus teams from the Patriot League.
GREEN AND GROWING: Fifty of the 80 players on the opening day roster are freshmen or sophomores. The breakdown: seniors (13), juniors (17), sophomores (21) and freshmen (29). Last year, a total of 25 freshmen saw action in at least one game. Of the 19 freshmen who returned, 15 started at least once.
HOME SWEET HOME: Duquesne is 64-18-0 all time at Rooney Field including winning streaks of 16, 14 and 10 games. Duquesne owns non-conference home wins over Lafayette (twice), VMI, Bucknell, Butler, Morehead State, Fordham and Dayton among others over the past 10 seasons.
DUQUESNE AT ROONEY FIELD
First Game: Oct. 23, 1993
Season: 17th
Record: 64-18-0 (.781)
Conference Games: 40-7
NEC Games Only: 1-2
Non-Conference Games: 23-10
Undefeated Seasons: 5 (2005 last)
Current Streak: L3
Long Win Streak: 16
win streak ended with 30-20 loss to Bucknell on Nov. 20, 2004
RANDOM NOTES: Duquesne suffered a major loss when preseason All-NEC tight end Sean Bunevich (North Ridgeville, Ohio/North Ridgeville) was lost for the season following a non-contact knee injury suffered at practice on August 11 ... sophomore Brian Layhue (Belle Vernon, Pa./Belle Vernon), who filled in when Bunevich injured the same knee late last season, will assume the starting TE spot ... Layhue caught all eight of his passes in DU's final three games last season ... two of Layhue's eight catches went for scores ... senior receiver Michael Rasky (Irwin, Pa./Penn-Trafford) opens the season with a streak of at least one reception in 20 consecutive games ... three-quarters of the projected starting secondary for the Bucknell game will be made up of newcomers ... JC transfers junior Justin Melhado (Ridgewater, Minn. Community College) is scheduled to start at one cornerback spot with fellow junior Devin Duggan (Valley Forge, Pa. Military College) penciled in at free safety ... in addition, true freshman Derrick Lakins (Upper Marlboro, Md./DeMatha) is listed as the starter at strong safety ... this will be the first game for defensive coordinator Ollie Phillips ... Phillips, who was the defensive coordinator for DU's 1995 MAAC championship team, has nine years of Division I coaching experience ... he replaced Joe Bernard, who coordinated DU defenses from 2003-08 ... Phillips has been joined by veteran Dick Hopkins ... Hopkins, who is working with the defensive backs, brings nearly 30 years of college coaching experience to the DU sidelines ... Hopkins, who was a quarterback/tight end at Florida State in the early 1970's, has coached at 11 different schools since 1981 including Duke (1981-82), Cinicnnati (1983), Rice (1984-85) and Vanderbilt (1986-88) among others ... Phillips and Hopkins hope to help a DU defense that ranked 86th nationally last season (381,2 ypg. including 192,5 ypg. on the ground).
TOTINO KNOWS TACKLES: Junior co-captain linebacker Nathan Totino (Pittsburgh, Pa./Seton-La Salle) earned first team All-NEC honors last season despite missing the last game of the season due to a knee injury. The 5-10, 210-pounder, who did not participate in spring drills while recovering from December 2008 surgery, ranks third among FCS active leaders with a 10.7 tackles per game career average. Totino has topped the 10 tackle mark 11 times in 19 career games including a career-high 23 stops last year against Albany. The 23 stops, which tied the single-game high by any FCS player last season, were the most by a DU player since the school moved to the FCS level in 1993. The Pittsburgh native, who added 16 stops at CCSU, posted double digit tackles in DU's first seven games of 2008. Totino's 5.8 career solo tackles per game average is the best among active FCS players.
DUQUESNE MOST TACKLES IN A GAME - FCS Era (since 1993)
23 (13) -- Nathan Totino vs. Albany, Oct. 4, 2008
21 (17) -- Matt Fisher vs. Marist, Oct. 10, 1998
19 (5) -- James Antinopoulos at Bucknell, Sept. 30, 2000
18 (10) -- Derron Thomas vs. Bucknell, Sept. 1, 2007
ROMBACH BACK: Senior co-captain quarterback Kevin Rombach (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin), brings a wealth of experience to the Dukes backfield. The 6-1, 205-pounder finished camp No. 1 on the depth chart as junior Connor Dixon continues to recover from offseason shoulder surgery. In Rombach, the Dukes have a quarterback who is so respected that he was named NEC preseason Offensive Player of the Year prior to to being beaten out by Dixon prior to last season. Rombach, who is on pace to shatter the school career completion percentage record (he's at .612 and the school record is .549), has thrown for 3,262 yards and 27 touchdowns with just eight interceptions in 394 career attempts. He is 9-3 as a starter with a career quarterback rating of 149.27. Rombach started the final two games last year in place of an injured Dixon. He completed 10-of-20 passes for 112 yards and a TD as the Dukes snapped a five-game losing streak with a 14-0 win in fog and steady rain at Wagner. He followed that by completing 12-of-16 passes for 71 yards in a season-ending 37-14 loss to Monmouth. Two year's ago, he completed 61 percent of his passes for 2,410 yards and 20 TDs on the way to earning first team All-MAAC honors. Rombach took over an 0-2 team and led it to wins in six of the final eight games as the starter. Rombach completed 8-of-14 passes for 231 yards and three TDs in this year's spring scrimmage.
ON THE MEND: Junior quarterback Connor Dixon (South Park, Pa./South Park), who missed spring drills after undergoing offseason shoulder surgery, continues to work back into playing shape. The second-year Michigan State transfer threw for 1,899 yards and 20 touchdowns last season despite shoulder soreness which limited him late in the season. Dixon threw for over 300 yards in a game twice in 2008, with 429 yards in his first Duquesne game last year at Bucknell and 338 more versus NEC champion Albany.
GO CLEO!: Senior Cleodis Williams (Carlisle, Pa./Carlisle), who missed the 2006 and 2007 seasons while attending to academic issues, accounted for 86 percent of Duquesne's rushing yardage last season. Williams, who last saw action as a freshman in 2005 prior to last season, ran for 868 yards (4.5 ypc.) and four TDs last season. He took a short pass 38 yards for a TD at Bucknell and followed that with 129 yards on 23 carries vs. Saint Francis. He topped 100 again with 103 yards on 25 rushes vs. Dayton and added a pair of touchdowns at Robert Morris. Williams' 129 yards vs. Saint Francis were most by a DU back in the Jerry Schmitt Era. He eclipsed that mark with 139 yards on 20 carries at CCSU and added 114 yards on a career-high 28 carries at Wagner - giving him four 100-yard rushing days for his career.
LOOKING FOR MOORE: Sophomore Akeem Moore (Pittsburgh, Pa./Brentwood), who started all 10 games last season in the defensive backfield (one and cornerback and nine at free safety), moved to the other side of the ball and will be catching passes instead of knocking them down this season. Moore, who also excelled as a member of the DU track team, showed his hands with three picks that he returned a team-high 111 yards. Moore, who ran the third leg for Duquesne's school record-setting 4x100 relay team in the spring, showed a glimpse of his potential with a 34-yard touchdown reception in the spring scrimmage.
STALWARTS: Starting offensive linemen Steve Kuhns (Lafayette, N.Y./Christian Brothers Academy) and Matt Kikta (Upper St. Clair, Pa./Upper St. Clair) have started every game in their DU careers (30 in a row entering the 2009 season). Both started as true freshmen in 2006, with all of Kikta's 30 starts have come at right tackle. Kuhns, who started as a freshman and sophomore at left guard, moved out to left tackle last season. He has returned to left guard to open 2009. Kikta and Kuhns are part of an offensive front that returns five players with starting experience.
A NEWCOMER OF NOTE: Dave Williams (Monroeville, Pa./Gateway/Michigan State), who played in five games in two seasons at Michigan State, transferred to Duquesne in January and participated in spring drills. Williams, a 5-9, 175-pound receiver, should help ease the loss of senior Alex Roberson (40-614-7 in 2008). Williams, who had two catches for 45 yards in DU's spring scrimmage, has two seasons of eligibility remaining. He appeared in two games for Michigan State in 2008 (Eastern Washington and at Northwestern) and three in 2007 (UAB, at Notre Dame and at Wisconsin) after redshirting in 2006. He was named MSU's Scout Team Offensive Player of the Year in 2006 and had four catches for 55 yards in the Spartans' 2007 spring game. Williams was named Pennsylvania MVP in the Big 33 Football Classic after catching touchdown passes of 38, 25 and 22 yards - the 38-yarder was thrown by current DU quarterback Connor Dixon, who transferred from Michigan State prior to the 2008 season. Williams accounted for 141 all-purpose yards in the June 2006 Big 33 game. He was a member of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Terrific 25 after gaining 1,538 all-purpose yards and posting 18 touchdowns as a senior at Gateway High School in suburban Pittsburgh. He scored eight times via reception, five by rush, three by punt return and twice by kickoff return and averaged 48.0 yards per touchdown. He caught 21 passes for 600 yards (28.6 ypc.), rushed for 224 yards on 32 carries (7.0 ypc.) and averaged 29.9 yards on 16 kickoff returns and 19.7 yards on 12 punt returns as a senior.
